This Month's Fare

Chef Helen Roberts Supports White House Initiative

The Let’s Move! campaign, spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama and run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is aimed at solving the childhood obesity epidemic in four ways: more nutrition information, increased physical activity, easier access to healthy foods and personal responsibility. As communities and organizations get behind the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign to solve the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation, one group that could have a tremendous impact on the health and well-being of children is the nation’s chefs.

By creating healthy dishes that taste good, chefs have the unique ability to “sell” nutrition to a large audience, especially children, in a fun and appealing way. The “Chefs Move to Schools” initiative calls on chefs to adopt schools in their communities, where they will work with teachers, parents, school nutritionists and administrators to help educate kids about food and nutrition, create healthy meals and teach young people about making balanced and healthy choices.

Representing Kikkoman Sales USA, Inc., Chef Helen Roberts is partnering with other members of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) in supporting “Chefs Move to Schools” via the Junior Leagues’ Kids in the Kitchen program, which began in 2006. Kids in the Kitchen encourages young people to make healthy lifestyle choices, and helps reverse the growth of childhood obesity by providing lessons and demonstrations on how to prepare healthy meals and snacks.

“I am extremely honored to be a part of the First Lady’s ‘Chefs Move to Schools’ program, said Chef Roberts. “By partnering with other IACP members to champion the efforts of the Junior Leagues’ successful Kids in the Kitchen project, Kikkoman can make a positive impact at a grassroots level. It’s all about educating, empowering and convincing kids to make their own healthy meal and snack choices. That’s ultimately what will make a real and lasting difference.”